Soft-tread horseshoe.



` Patented Oct. 23,1900. l

E. B. EVANS. "SOFT TREAD HURSESHOE.

(Application Bled Feb (N l d l) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOCI-I BAKER EVANS, OF BENNING, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SOFT-TREAD HORSESHOE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 660,493, dated October 23, 190'0. Application filed February 14, 1900. Serial No. 5,237. (No modell To ctZZ whom t may concern..

Be it known that I, ENocH BAKER EVANS, of Benning, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Horseshoes, 0f which the following is a complete specification, reference being.

had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce a soft-tread horseshoe that will be durable, that may be attached with facility to the hoof, that interposes a cushion composed exclusively of yielding material between the foot and the ground, that leaves the heel of the foot free to expand and promotes such expansion, and that does not heat the foot.

In the accompanying drawings, FigureIis a side elevation of my shoe as applied to a hoof, a portion of the hoof being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. II is a top plan View of a preferred form of shoe complete. Fig. III is a similar view showing a portion of the thickness of the shoe cut away to the metal. Fig. IV is a view similarl to Fig. II, the'metal being removed. Fig. V is a section on the line V V of Fig. II. Fig. VI is a section on the line VI VI of Fig. II looking towardthe toe of the shoe. Fig. VII is a side elevation of the subject-matter of Fig. IV. Fig. VIII is a perspective View of the metal-retaining member detached. The drawing in Fig. I is full size, While the remaining figures are drawn on more or less reduced scales.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 indicates the body of my shoe, that is composed of yielding material, such as vulcanized rubber, and preferably without the in-V terposition of any metal between it and the hoof of its wearer. The heels 2 of the shoe are shaped (see, for example, Fig. III) flush with the outer surfaces of the rear portion of the hoof, while at points (indicated at 3) at any preferred distance from the heels, respectively, a portion of the body part l is removed to form opposite lateral flanges 4. 'Ihese flanges are pierced at suitable intervals by nail-holes 5, through which the nails may be inserted and driven near the edges of the hoof in the usual manner. The portion of the hoof which the flanges 4 underlie does not require support, but ample support for the hoof adjacent to those edges is afforded n the "main body part 1, whose location under the inner portion of the hoof is preferable as tending to expand the hoof and pre- Vent contracted heels.

As above specified, the entire shoe so far canized rubber. force the flanges 4 by underlyinglateral metallic plates or preferably, as illustrated, a single metallic plate 6, shaped in the form of an ordinary horseshoe, but comparatively very light, being required only to perform the function of a retaining member and not exposed to the usual abrasive Wear. The member 6 extends around the front of the shoe from one point 3 to the other and is of a width substantially equal to that of the flanges 4 on the body part l, which it. is designed and adapted to reinforce. It is also provided with nail-holes 8, located so as to register with the nai'lholes 5 in the flanges 4, or the holes 5 may be made by the insertion of the nails themselves.

When the member 6 is made in the shape of a diminished horseshoe, it interposes no metal between the body part l or cushion and the hoof of the wearer. In practice, however, the cushioning beingintended mainly to protect the more sensitive rear portions of the hoof and to prevent contractions and cracks therein and it being frequently desirable to slightly toe-weight the foot, I prefer to incorporate with the member or plate 6 a calk 10, connected by a toe-plate l1, extending across and protected thereby from contact with the ground, with a rear retaining-flange l2, that engages the rear portion of the body part and lends security and rigidity to the toe of the shoe, upon which in practice comes the greatest strain. In Patent No. 630,204, granted to me August l, 1899, a toe-piece was shown and claimed as provided with a call: projecting from the front edge and lugs projecting from the rear side thereof. These lugs are shown as located to one side of the toe-piece, respectively; but I have discovered that, for present purposes at least, the flange 12, located immediately in the rear of the calk l0, affords greater security. My present invention is therefore to the extent indicated an improvement upon the invention described in the patent above referred to. It may here be the body part- 1, but above its lower surface.

as above described may be composed of vul- I prefer, however, to reinto protect the point of the toe of the hoof above the shoe, afamiliar practice in farriery.

As above specified, the entire body part 1 may be made of vulcanized rubber; but it is thought by some that contactof rubber with the hoof tends to heat the latter. For that reason I prefer to construct the upper portion ofthe body partl of my shoe,correspond ing in thickness to the thickness of the flanges 4, of leather. In the drawings two leather plates 15 and 16 are illustrated, being divided by the plate ll above described. If the plate 1l be omitted, of course the leather becomes a continuous piece shaped to t the foot for which it is intended. In the manufacture of my `shoe the leather should be so incorporated with or secured to the rubber in the vulcanizing process as to make the leather and the Also ployed the rubber should be molded to the metal and at the same time incorporated with the leather, so thatl the metallic, leather, and rubber portions are united in a single whole in the finished article, as illustrated in Figs. II and V. If, however, the plates 1l and l2 be omitted, the rubber and leather, ifleather be employed, may be made in one piece andthe metal in another and applied when needed for securing the shoe to the foot.

If preferred, a thin canvas, felt, or other pad 17 may be laid over the entire upper surface of the shoe, as indicated at Fig. V, before the shoe is set in place.

What I claim isn 1. A horseshoe comprising a Iianged body part of yielding material, adapted to rest against a hoof, a retaining member fitting the flange thereof, out of contact with the hoof, and a toe-plate upon the retaining member,

` extending across the body part and provided with forward and rearward projections engaging therewith, substantially as and for the purpose specified. f

2. A horseshoe comprising a body part composed of yielding material, adapted to rest against a hoof without the intervention of any unyielding material between the tread of the body part and the hoof, and a toe-plate provided in front with a projection or calk, and in the rear opposite thereto with a retaining-fiange, substantially as set forth.

3. A horseshoe comprising a flanged body part made entirely of. yielding material, a toeplate extending across the body part above the tread thereof, and provided with projections upon opposite sides, and a retaining member combined with the toe-plate and tit= ting the flanged portion of the body part, substantially as set'forth.

4. A retaining member vfor a soft-tread horseshoe, com prsi ng a metallic plate, shaped in the form of an ordinary horseshoe and pro` vided at its forward end with a calk, a toeplate and a retaining-fiange, said metallic plate and toe-plate being in different planes, to retain a shoe, of the kind specified, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

5. A horseshoe comprising a rubber body part, surmounted by a pair of leather plates extending beyond the bod7 part to constitute a retaining-flange, and a metallic retaining member, fitting the flanged body part, and provided with a toe-plate extending across the body part between the leather plates, substantially as set forth.

In testimony of all which I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ENOCH BAKER EVANS.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH L. ATKINS, KARL J. DANIEL. 

